Interny (Interns, Russian: Интерны) was a Russian sitcom from the TNT (ТНТ) network. It ran from 2010 to 2016. The series features the trials and tribulations of a group of four young medical interns, their mentor Andrey Bykov (Андрей Быков), and the other hospital workers. The show has an original plot line, though many comparisons have been made between Interny and American sitcoms House M.D. and, particularly, Scrubs, from which the show makes several obvious borrowings.

The show has been a source of some political controversy. Ivan Okhlobystin, who plays the head doctor, is ultraconservative but as flamboyant in real life as he is on show, if not more. Known for making anti-gay comments, he was eventually confronted by a public “coming out” by an American actor, Odin Bairon, who joined the show after its start, playing an American doctor who came to Russia on an exchange program. This eventually led to several newspapers articles on Bairon and passionate tweets by Okhlobystin.

The show has also given pokes-in-the-eye to those who point out the similarities between it and American shows. Bairon’s character, for instance, transfers to the Russian hospital from Princeton–Plainsboro, the hospital where House works.

Zach Hicks is a PhD student in Comparative Literature at the University of Oregon. He is currently participating in SRAS's Home and Abroad scholarship program. His main areas of interest are twentieth-century Russian and Soviet literature, socialist modernism, and critical theory. Outside of academics his major interests are martial arts, the outdoors, and music. In Russia, he plans to continue to increase his language proficiency, to learn as much as possible about the Russian underground music scene, its tattoo culture, and to become a student of Russia’s native martial art, SAMBO.

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